Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

The Songs and Scriptures of Christ’s Coming. That will be our Advent series this year. What are we trying to do with this series?

Well, for starters, Christmas carols are some of the most familiar and well-loved Christian hymns in the world. Someone who may not know many of the words to “And Can it Be” or “Rock of Ages” might yet be very familiar with the words of “O Come All Ye Faithful” or “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”

That is, for practical reasons, because Christmas has survived in popular culture as a celebration of the season, of giving, of a certain spirit of kindness and joy, and even those who are not religious, if they are not belligerent about it, enjoy the celebration of Christmas.

And if you enjoy the celebration of Christmas, you can only obscure it so much from its true meaning before you lose the whole thing - so the carols stay, they are played on radio stations that typically only play very non-christian music, and they are hummed and sung by those who may or may not take much time to reflect on their words.

But for our purpose, not only are the carols very familiar - we are also familiar with many of the non-seasonal hymns. The Carols are unique in that they are some of the most biblically rich hymns in our traditions.

Now of course, there are some carols, just as there are some hymns, which really stretch things or get the details wrong, but by and large, Christmas carols - the hymns of Christ’s Advent - are full of Truth.

They are a unique blend of Old Testament Prophecy, New Testament Fulfillment, and theological summary about the person and work of Jesus, and why he came.

There are favorite hymns that touch on one or two biblical subjects - for instance, Great is Thy Faithfulness, but the Christmas Carols really excel at putting the big picture and story of the whole Bible together.

As the Bible sets a stage and opens a curtain for Jesus Christ, the carols seek to do justice to that aim, as they highlight and help to instill in our thinking through rhythm and rhyme the very truths that God has designed, His plan of salvation and redemption through Jesus Christ.

Now, with all that - let it be said that our aim is not to study the Christmas Carols as if they are some secondary sacred text - not at all!

Rather, the aim is to glean from some of their richness and the hard work of the hymnwriters in putting together all these themes of scripture and doctrine, and primarily we will look to see in a little more depth some of the scriptures that lie behind these tunes.

So this week, we start with the one that we just sang - “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.”

The Long-Expected first coming of the Messiah gives us immense hope as we desire Him even still.

Come Thou Long Expected was written by Charles Wesley and published in His hymnal, “Hymns for the Nativity of our Lord” in 1744.

Wesley’s hymns are uniquely rich in scripture, and to be honest, when reading down through the text of this song and jotting down the scriptural allusions, it would be difficult to even read every passage of the Bible this song touches, let alone study them.

The four lines that I’ve chosen to highlight give us a “Past, Present, Future” view of the coming of Jesus.

They highlight his birth, his purpose, his current rule, and the future that He promises for His people. It is the Christmas message, the Gospel message, the Bible message wrapped together.

Born to Set Thy People Free

Freedom rings out in scripture, doesn’t it? There is a real sense in which the ideas of bondage and freedom follow us all the way through.

From family of Joseph who went down to Egypt as guests and left as escapees, to the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah and their respective captivities, to the Roman-controlled Israel that existed at the time of Jesus Christ, God has set a stage for “freedom” to take on big meaning with the coming of the Messiah.

The Lord had proven to be a “deliverer” to His people time and time again, but all their former deliverances would not suffice to keep them free. In one way or another, there would be continual slavery until Christ came.

The question then, becomes, what would Christ’s ultimate deliverance be? What would it be from?

Death

Hebrews 2:14–15 ESV

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

Christ took on flesh - that is the miracle of the incarnation that we will see in all these weeks of study - and he did so to accomplish the work of redemption, winning freedom, here, from death.

He went through death to destroy death. We’ve heard the common phrase, fight fire with fire - well, Christ Jesus our Lord defeated death through death.

The deliverance spoken of here in Hebrews is that which stems from fear - fear of death. Because of fear of death, we were subject to slavery. You can motivate people to do a lot of things through the threat of death - the only way to be delivered from that trap is to abolish that fear, and the only one who could abolish that fear is one who could walk through death and come out triumphantly. That is our Lord, that is Jesus.

Romans 6:9–11 ESV

We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Paul takes this very theme, speaking of Christ’s death as a “death to sin.” And of course, Paul’s teaching throughout all of His letters is that we have Christ’s wonderful work put to us - that is, applied to our account. So that Christ’s death, for believers, was our death. And Christ’s new life, for His people, is our new life.

This has eternal consequence, in that the life he won for us is everlasting. But it also has current consequence, as we are told to “consider ourselves dead to sin.” That is, the very slavery we were in because of fear of death, we must consider that tension to be dead. Dead to sin, alive rather, to Christ.

Down the chapter further, Paul expands on that theme.

Romans 6:22–23 ESV

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Notice where this leads - to eternal life. That is why Christ’s Advent deliverance was the ultimate deliverance that was never fulfilled. It wasn’t fulfilled in the Exodus, it wasn’t fulfilled in the the rebuilding of Jerusalem by Nehemiah. It is fulfilled in Christ, defeating death through death, taking our sin, and giving the free gift of eternal life. His life, His reward, he gives to us - not as a reward that we earn, but as a free gift.

Born to Set Thy People Free.

From our fears and sins release us

Let us find our rest in Thee.

Israel’s Strength and Consolation

So Christ’s deliverance is once for all time, and rightly we can say it is not Just for Israel, but for people from every tongue and nation, All who Christ brings to Himself.

But at the same time, the Advent Story - the coming of Jesus - happened within History. That is one of the marvels. I love to study Theology as much as any of you, but God works not just in summaries and statements, but in History.

And the History of God’s people is a history of promises made and promises kept. We find those in big-picture form, like Isaiah 7 and 9 and MIcah 5, but we also see them in small-format, like with the Story of Simeon.

We don’t have the time to do all the details of Simeon, but suffice to Say, Simeon was a faithful man whom God had told that he would see the Messiah.

Luke 2:25 (ESV)

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

Imagine being given that specific promise. And also, think of Simeon’s faith to believe - he believed right up until the end. He went faithfully, day in, day out, to the temple. He was there in the court of Women, like he had probably been many times. He had seen many young couples bring their firstborn son in to offer the appropriate sacrifices.

But this time, through the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Simeon saw something different - He saw what he was promised - the Lord’s Christ - the Messiah. The Deliverer. He was here.

Simeon’s prayer tells the rest of the story - Now I can depart in peace!

I’m ready to die now, Lord! I’ve seen Him! Your salvation! Your Deliverer! A light of revelation and the glory of Israel!

And that is just it - Jesus is a light of revelation to the Gentiles - to those who are far off, those outside the promises and prophecies were really not outside at all. Christ came to bridge that gap.

And of all the wonderful things of Israel, their history, traditions, the law, the most wonderful gift and glorious thing to arise from them was the God-man. The Consolation of Israel.

Christ is that comfort, that consolation. In a time when many in Israel had perhaps given up on hearing from God again, there were some, like Simeon, who were faithful and waiting patiently - and Christ was that comfort. That strength. That help.

Joel 3:16 ESV

The Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the Lord is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.

Christ is that Lord - that YahWeh. He is that refuge. he is that stronghold. He came to set His people free, and in Christ, you and are are grafted in to that wonderful family of God. We are just as much the people of God as Simeon was, waiting on that blessed day.

He was Israel’s comfort, He was Simeon’s comfort, is He your comfort?

The second verse of our Hymn goes like this.

Born thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a King, born to reign in us forever, now thy gracious kingdom bring. By thine own eternal spirit rule in all our hearts alone;

Rule in All Our Hearts Alone

So many themes we could have covered there! Hopefully we will cover them in the weeks to come, but one thing unique about this Carol is how it makes application to our lives now, and it does so by highlighting the Lordship of Christ.

That Christ will Rule and Reign forever is, again, part of the big-picture themes of Advent. That was the prophecy of Isaiah, that he shall reign forever.

But as we’ve been seeing in Matthew, the Kingdom of Christ is as much within us as it is in the big picture of the world and governments and authorities.

It is one thing to acknowledge that this God-man, this prophecy-fulfilling, miracle-working, revelation-giving Jesus is Lord over all the earth, but it is entirely another thing to recognize that He must be Lord in our hearts, in our minds.

Jeremiah 31:33 ESV

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

And what was Jeremiah speaking of there? He was speaking of the New Covenant. A Covenant that would include heart transformation.

That Covenant, of course, is the New Covenant brought by Christ.

Moses, receiving the tablets from God and giving the Law, writing them and many others in the first five books of the Bible, was the mediator of the Old Covenant. It was not a bad covenant, it was not evil - it was from God. It was a means that God used to teach His people what He was like, to give them a way of existence in Holiness and Purity, to distinguish them from their neighbors and thereby give testimony. But, it was a covenant that was powerless to do the delivering that we’ve talked about. It was never meant to be eternal.

Hebrews 8:6 ESV

But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.

Now, that is what the author of Hebrews says. And what better promises is he referring to? Well right after he says that, he quotes from Jeremiah 31, what we just read. Law written on the hearts, God their God, they His people.

But there is even more.

Jeremiah 31:34 ESV

And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

What are the better promises? The better promises are forgiveness, and wiping away their sins.

And how is that accomplished? Through the person of Christ.

So the one who is Lord in our lives, who sees every detail, every flaw and sin and misstep, is also the one who accomplished our forgiveness and makes it such that our sins are remembered no more.

Does this Lord rule in your life? Do you have this King, this Deliverer? This Strength and Consolation? Are your sins remembered no more because of the Coming of Jesus Christ?

We’ve seen then, the past, and the present.

The past is that God’s people over and over again needed delivering, and He sent Jesus to be that deliverer. The past is that God promised His salvation would come, and His salvation did come in the person of Jesus Christ.

The Present is that Christ is mediating a better Covenant - a Covenant of Forgiveness and Mercy through the Gospel. A Covenant of heart transformation, of the Kingdom existing wherever Men’s hearts are bonded to Christ.

So what is the future?

By thine own eternal spirit rule in all our hearts alone; by thine all sufficient merit, raise us to thy glorious throne.

Raise Us To Thy Glorious Throne

What could Wesley have meant by that phrase? Doesn’t that seem pretentious, to imagine being raised to the place where Christ is? I mean, it’s wonderful that he offers salvation and forgiveness and peace and joy and everything here on earth, but what place do we have being with Jesus?

John 14:3 ESV

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

Of course, that was part of the plan all along! For God to redeem and deliver His people in such a way that we could once again return to that Garden State, and I don’t mean new Jersey.

What was the Garden like? It was perfect existence, no death, no disease, no chaos, no sadness. It was Man and Woman as God created them, and God walking with Man in the cool of the day.

You see, Christ’s redemption of mankind is taking us back to that Garden state. That state, before there was sin. Before there was death. Before there was Jew and Gentile - it was just Man and God, man created in God’s image to tend and keep the beauty of Creation, and God freely communing with His creation because there was no stain of separation.

Ezekiel 37:26–27 ESV

I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

That sounds a lot like Jeremiah 31, and it is the same promise, just further out. God’s intention is to dwell with His people again. For us to constantly be with Him, near Him, in His presence.

Just think of it - Jesus first coming did two things. It gave a taste of that Garden existence again.

Here was a picture of sinlessness - Jesus, who is also God walking with man.

It gave a taste, but it also kicked off the New-Covenant plan to restore all things back to where they were. A future state of sinlessness, of peace, of God walking freely with His people.

Do you see what a wonderful path we are on in Christ Jesus?

Do you see this progression from death to flourishing life, from prison to ultimate freedom, walking with God? This is the Big Story of Advent, and this is the wonder that we sing about.

And though yes, some is future and yet to be seen by us, yet God in His mercy gives us a taste of this now.

Ephesians 2:4–7 ESV

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

There is a present reality of a future existence for Christ’s followers now. Spiritually, we are already raised up and seated with Christ. We are already transformed. The promise is as good as kept, and what we experience spiritually now will remain in the ages to come as a signature of God’s Kindness to us, as He wrought all this for us in Christ Jesus.

So, dear one, have you been delivered by the one True deliverer, Jesus?

Have you found your strength and comfort in Him alone?

Is Christ your redeemer and Lord of your life?

And if so, do you find your ultimate rest and hope in the fact that He is taking us on a journey to His created order, His blessing, His perfection, to walk with us and restore all things as they should be?

And while we wait, we can sing the words of this hymn in that way also, “Come, thou Long-Expected Jesus.”